I want to Thank You All so much for your kind words of support on my previous Anniversary post. I am so deeply touched and moved by your generosity and truly sweetest of hearts! Today I am sharing a great old/new idea of giving. A "Giving Garden" . . . old in that back during both World Wars I and II citizens across the world planted Victory Gardens to help out with public food shortages.
New in that Andria Post Ergun of The Alternative Gardener contacted me yesterday with a similar idea and asked me to join her in spreading the word of creating a "Giving Garden" within our gardens to donate to Food Pantries, Shelters for the Homeless, Survival Centers and Food Banks in our areas the world over. People are struggling here in our country and in all lands across this planet.
I plant my veggies in with flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals to try to camouflage my food from rabbits mostly! Many years it works out fine, but not last year so it seems I need fencing. I planted enough to share with the rabbits but it is unfortunate they do not care to share with me!
I will be planting extra vegetables this year to share with others,
who might be caught in the net of economic troubles. I feel so outraged and disappointed with how our "leaders" have dealt with this economic downfall . . . though I will continue to call my representatives in congress and my president pleading for them to act justly, I will not wait but will act according to my conscience. I love sharing fruit with the wildlife that coexist on this land with me.
Apples fall and accommodate other creatures reach.
These little guys are more than welcome to the fallen apples.
There is always more than enough to go around and I will share my harvests with others in need this year too. Instead of just feeling angry about what is not being done I will feel better just doing something myself.
I will be offering some of my freshest and juiciest apples.
Native Blueberries too!
Leaving plenty for my feathered friends such as this Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
They pick with their beaks while my fingers gingerly gather these perfect berries.
I will share one quarter of each container I harvest. They are tiny berries that take a good amount of time to pick... and I do so covet them! Just last week I finished my last bottle of frozen berries. They are so delicious in smoothies. What a luxury!
Every meal is not treated as a celebration, but maybe they should be in our hearts and minds considered so. During the growing season I feel so blessed with plentiful harvests and beauty all around me, that a dear friend and I get together once a month or more, for champagne luncheons to celebrate and be thankful. Though I struggle as an artist and farmer, I am so lucky to live in a paradise and have a warm cozy shelter to call home. In the summer I love to make large salads in big bowls filled with goodies like beans, local goat's cheese, nuts, grated carrots, beets and some sort of fruit . . . maybe dried apricots all mixed with herbs, gardens greens, virgin olive oil and lemon! The variety changes with what happens to be in the garden and refrigerator. I can not recall the saying that goes something like . . . civilizations will evolve to higher planes, when they can no longer lift a morsel of food to their mouths, while others are hungry or starving. I am in no way trying to say that we should feel guilty for what we have . . . in fact I think . . . if we have abundance then we should rejoice. Here is to sharing our abundance . . . joyfully growing and giving. Please check out The Alternative Gardener and consider planting a "Giving Garden" of your own. I know that many share in so many ways with those less fortunate . . . or neighbors and friends struggling with illness or losses. I know of the generous spirit that lives in this gardening community . . . I see and read it in your posts, your comments and your worlds. Andria and I would love to hear what you think of this project . . . be sure to visit her site and let her know what you think.
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